


This Place Will Never Change

by luckycat13 (catlady313)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Bullying, Coming Out, First Kiss, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Trauma, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:09:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28478187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catlady313/pseuds/luckycat13
Summary: Sokka had thought that by the time college rolled around, cliques wouldn’t really be a thing anymore. He was dead wrong. There were still the jocks and the preppies and the populars and the others.Like always, he was one of the others.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> CW: bullying, derogatory names, homophobia
> 
> There are a couple of heavy topics in this short work, but I promise a happy ending.
> 
> With love,
> 
> Lucky Cat

Sokka gazed over the top of his book to where the soccer jocks were sitting, being entirely too loud for a library. He’d thought that by the time college rolled around, cliques wouldn’t really be a thing anymore. He was dead wrong. There were still the jocks and the preppies and the populars and the others.

Like always, he was one of the others. Worse yet, he wasn’t even in a group of other others. Back in high school, he at least had Suki and Teo, but Suki got a sports scholarship at a California university and no one was surprised that Teo ended up at MIT. Now, Sokka spent most of his time alone; keeping his scholarship was more important than having friends. Sure, he had Katara, but who wants to hang out with their little sister and her friends all of the time.

Probably the worst part about all of this was that at least half of the people he went to high school with ended up at this university. That included most of his long-time bullies. Sokka wanted to go somewhere else, to leave bigoted small-town Texas, but he couldn’t leave a full-ride scholarship to go somewhere his family definitely couldn’t afford. Would he have been happier elsewhere? Probably, but he wasn’t about to make things harder than they already were for his family.

 _Stop dwelling on things you can’t change,_ he told himself as he shifted his focus back to his book. He should have known he would regret putting off his english requirement until his sophomore year. He didn’t exactly mind that he had to take freshman english when he was a mechanical engineering major, but he’d always been better at writing than at reading and interpreting a text. He’d spent many years wondering if all the symbolism and meaning that english teachers pull out of books was actually intended by the author or if one day someone just said “I think it means this” and that’s what was taught from then on. Most of it is kind of a stretch anyway so Sokka wouldn’t be surprised.

He’d just gotten back into the flow of annotating when a crumpled up piece of paper hits the rim of his glasses. He looked up to see half of the jocks giggling to themselves. _Great, all my day was missing was a little harassment. Just like high school again,_ he thought as he begrudgingly unfolded the paper.

Just like high school was right. On the paper, there was a crudely drawn dick and the nickname those same jocks gave him in high school.

_Sucka_

It had been more than a year since they graduated, and the best these dimwits could do was make the same joke they made all throughout high school? More than a year later, they were still the same homophobic assholes they’d always been and Sokka was still their target.

There was never anything he could do to make them stop. He tried ignoring them at first, thinking that they’d eventually get bored. When that didn’t work, he told Katara, but not even her threats deterred them for more than a month. He couldn’t get the administration in high school to do anything and who could reprimand them now? Coaches just want to keep their players on the field and the higher-ups don’t want to upset their athletes.

He had been fed up with this shit for a while, but something had always stopped him from saying anything. Unlucky for them, Sokka had no more fucks to give. He closed his book and marched over to the jocks who were looking quite pleased with themselves.

He simply held up the drawing. “Pretty unoriginal, don’t you think?”

“Oh come on now, you’re insulting my masterpiece,” Jet whined.

“Your lack of intelligence is showing.” He turned to walk away before he heard Hahn pipe up with his two-cents.

“Can’t take a joke, _Sucka_?” he said emphatically.

Sokka whipped back around and stood right in front of Hahn. “Ya know, nobody likes a guy who stopped maturing in high school.” He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth and dropped his voice to a whisper. “ _I_ wouldn’t even go for you.”

That got a reaction. Hahn was immediately on his feet and in Sokka’s space, which quickly caught the attention of the team captain. Sokka knew he was a junior named Zuko and that was about it. He moved to the city just before the semester began -- why anyone would do that was beyond Sokka -- meaning he was one of the few people on the soccer team who didn’t go to high school with the rest of them.

“What’s the problem here, Hahn?” Zuko’s voice was raspier than Sokka expected and he hated that he found it hot.

“Just a joke, and this fairy couldn’t take it,” he said with a smirk.

Zuko looked unamused to say the least at Hahn’s answer and turned toward Sokka next, seeming to be waiting to hear his side of the story too.

“He’s just upset because not even this ‘fairy’ would do him.” Sokka cocked his head to the side, knowing that he was going to regret what he was about to say. “With such a big ego, your penis must be _really_ tiny, isn’t it?”

There was barely a second between his words and the feeling of a fist connecting with his face. Sokka felt his glasses get knocked off his face and he went to the ground from the force behind the punch. He heard the commotion of people trying to hold Hahn back as he reached for his glasses. Once he could see again, though through one broken lens, he saw that Hahn had been dragged back several feet and Zuko was rushing to Sokka’s side.

“Are you okay,” Zuko said, bending down to check out the damage on Sokka’s face.

“I’m fine,” he replied, brushing off the obligatory help. He got to his feet again and straightened himself out a little before turning to the jocks. “You called me Sucka and a gay whore and even worse things all through high school and are still doing it and I have done nothing. Then, I finally stand up for myself and give you back a miniscule fraction of what you gave me and I get decked. It didn’t feel good, did it?”

With that, he went back to his things, packed everything up, and left. It wasn’t until he was back in his dorm that he let himself cry, just like how he’d wait until he got home to cry in high school. He didn't want to look as weak as he felt. He put his earbuds in and let himself get lost in the lyrics of some sad songs for a while. Hobo Johnson was right, _this place will never change. It’ll probably get way worse, at best, stay the same._

**\-----**

It was a mistake to not ice his black eye before going to bed Sokka learned the next morning when he looked in the mirror. While his eye wasn’t swollen shut, the bruise was an ugly dark purple and went down to his cheekbone. Not to mention, his other eye didn’t look great either from how long he cried yesterday. And even better, he was supposed to be meeting Katara for lunch today.

There wasn’t much he could do about it now so he washed his face the best he could without causing himself too much pain, brushed his teeth, and tied up his hair. He’d sometimes leave it down, but he didn’t want his shoulder length hair to get in his face today. He already felt like shit and he really didn’t want to add feeling self conscious about his body into the mix so he threw on jeans and his favorite blue hoodie to hide some of his insecurities, even though it may not have been the most clean. After carefully sliding his spare pair of glasses onto his face, he headed out the door for his first and only class of the day, trying his best to forget about yesterday.

He didn’t really mind morning classes since he had gotten used to waking up early in high school. Back then, it meant he could get to school early and find a quiet corner to read in before having to deal with people. Now, it meant he got to take classes with far fewer people in them, which was a big perk.

The lecture went by pretty fast, just some run of the mill partial differential equations that Sokka could basically solve in his sleep. Katara didn’t get out of class for another hour, but Sokka didn’t mind being early so he headed the direction of the campus restaurant they met in every time with the intention of finding somewhere outside to sit and read until then. He’d forgotten what terrible luck he had.

He made it halfway across campus when he spotted Zuko and Zuko spotted him. He groaned internally as the captain did a half jog across the quad to where Sokka was now standing. He really didn’t need another pretentious jock to pretend to be sorry for one of their teammates because the same shit was just going to keep happening.

“Hey,” Zuko said, looking surprisingly awkward for how popular he was.

“Hey,” Sokka replied flatly. “Do you need something?”

Zuko paused and Sokka braced himself. “I just wanted to apologize for my teammates. They were way out of line.”

“Same shit as always. They’re never going to change,” Sokka said, trying to sound as bored as he possibly could. “If that’s all, I’m gonna--”

“Wait!” Zuko’s hand was on his shoulder to stop him from walking away. “It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Will you let me make it up to you?”

 _This should be interesting,_ he thought. “Fine. How?”

“Come to the field this afternoon at four.”

Sokka just scoffed. “Why? So I can get beat up outside where my blood won’t stain any carpet? I think I’ll pass.”

“No, of course not! I promise. Will you trust me?”

Sokka thought hard for a second. “I’ll only come if I can bring someone with me so that if I do get jumped, someone can call the cops.”

“Absolutely. Bring as many other people as would make you feel comfortable.” Zuko seemed relieved he’d finally gotten Sokka to agree. “I’ll see you later, then,” he said over his shoulder as he walked back the direction he had come.

Sokka shed a tear on the inside for the peaceful afternoon of homework and anime that he had planned.

By the time he got where he was heading, Katara’s class only had fifteen minutes left and the building was right next to the restaurant so he went ahead and ordered their usuals. He scrolled through Instagram as he waited for either the food or his sister to arrive. A little surprisingly, his sister was first.

She spotted him immediately and headed for the table he chose. “My professor let us go early so I-- oh my god, Sokka! What happened?!?”

That was on par with the reaction he’d been expecting. “Hi, Kat.” He knew he wasn’t getting out of this one easily.

Katara seemed a little angry, and by a little angry, he meant ‘looks like she could commit murder’ angry. “What. Happened.” she said through gritted teeth.

“It was Hahn. They were being assholes like always and I had the audacity to say something back.”

“I’m going to kill him,” and Sokka knew she meant it.

“That’s unnecessary. I think I bruised his ego more than he bruised my face.” He let out a breathy chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh Sokka,” his sister said with sad eyes. “Have you been icing it?”

“I meant to, but I fell asleep without remembering.”

“Do that as soon as you get back to your room today,” she said with all the power and authority of a freshman pre-med student.

“That’s not going to be for a while.” Sokka slumped in his chair just thinking about it.

“Why not? I thought you only had one class today,” Katara said, looking very puzzled.

“I did, but the soccer team captain came and apologized to me on my way over here. He said he wants to ‘make it up to me’ so I have to go to the field at four this afternoon.”

“No, absolutely not. I won’t allow it.” She crossed her arms to match the finality of her statement.

Sokka just sighed. He didn’t want to be having this argument. “I want to go see what he has to say.” That only served to intensify Katara’s glare. “He said I can bring as many people with me as I want and I want you to come.”

At least that appeased her. “Fine, but Aang and Toph are also coming.”

“Deal,” Sokka said with a little smile. As soon as the word left his mouth, their food arrived and they moved on to less tense topics of conversation. He was really lucky to have such a great sister.

**\-----**

Sokka met back up with Katara, now joined by Toph and Aang, in the academic building closest to the field so they could walk over together. He noted how Toph traded her signature punch on the arm for a light tap of her knuckles instead. It was the little things that reminded Sokka they cared about him even if he himself wasn’t that close with them.

“You don’t have to do this. Just because you said yes doesn’t mean you have to go,” Katara said as they set out for the field.

“Yeah, I know. I just want to be the bigger person here, and the captain doesn’t seem like a bad guy so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

Aang grinned at him. “That’s very admirable, Sokka.”

“Admirable or stupid. One of the two,” Toph added with a teasing tone, obviously trying to make things a little less tense. “I’m stealing all their kneecaps if anyone even says something I don’t like.”

“Thanks, Toph.”

They continued the rest of the short walk in silence. In just a few moments, they stood just outside the field area, hidden from sight of anyone currently on the field. Sokka could hear the soccer team and he looked down at his phone, 4:02. It was now or never, and while never was kind of appealing, he didn’t want to back down now.

Katara placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile, and that was enough to give him the strength to round the corner onto the field with his support in tow.

Once on the field, they caught Zuko’s eye and he blew a whistle. “Everybody line up in front of the bleachers!” he yelled to the team. They quickly did as they were told and the captain jogged up to Sokka. “I’m glad you came. I hope you’ll like what I have in store for the team,” he said a little breathlessly. No matter how much Sokka told himself that it wasn’t the time to be thinking gay thoughts, his stupid brain thought some gay thoughts. It wasn’t _all_ his fault. Zuko actually seemed like a decent person, not to mention the fact that he had the body of a Greek god and mysterious scar that only served to make his face even more attractive. There wasn’t much Sokka could do about that, but his mind finally caught up with why he was here in the first place when he realized all the members of the soccer team were staring at him, effectively stopping the gay thoughts.

Zuko led them over to sit on the bleachers and he stood in front of his teammates. “As many of you know, this is Sokka.” Sokka could immediately tell that Zuko struck the fear of god into these boys because they all remained silent and staring straight ahead. “I witnessed some behavior yesterday that was absolutely unacceptable, and it seems like this has been going on for a while. That makes me pretty upset, so first you’re all going to apologize. Let’s hear it.”

On his command, the whole team said “We’re sorry, Sokka,” with the exception of Hahn who, even while getting reprimanded for his actions, said Sucka. That didn’t fly with Zuko.

“Oh really, Hahn? You still want to play games?”

Hahn just smirked and shrugged. “I don’t have anything to apologize for. I was just defending myself.” He made direct eye contact with Sokka. “Wouldn’t want to end up a homo like him.”

Sokka’s face turned red with anger and embarrassment as he stared down at the ground. He barely registered Katara and Aang holding Toph back from flying off of the bleachers to personally make Hahn regret being born.

Zuko maintained his composure. “I’m glad to know what you think. You are dismissed.” Sokka looked back up. Hahn just gave the captain a confused look, not moving from where he stood. “Do you need me to spell it out for you? You are off the team.”

“What?! You can’t do that!”

“Actually, I can. I talked to the coach. All of you should remember signing a code of conduct when you joined this team. Violence against another student, whether they are on the team or not, is strictly prohibited. Therefore, you are dismissed. Please go clear out your locker.”

Hahn’s head looked like it was about to explode. “This is bullshit. The coach will be hearing from my father.”

“I hope he does,” Zuko replied. “Then, he can show him the code of conduct you violated and tell your father himself how improperly you behaved.”

At that, Hahn finally stomped off in the direction of the locker room. “Now, does anyone else have any problems?”

This time, they all remained silent, likely not wanting to join Hahn in getting kicked off the team.

“Good. Now, everyone is going to do five miles around the track to help you remember that as members of the soccer team and as decent human beings, we are respectful to _everyone_.” Zuko blew his whistle again and walked over to Sokka and his group.

“I’m really sorry I didn’t know what was going on sooner. I’d have put them in their place as soon as I got here if I’d known,” Zuko said with a sympathetic smile. “I know that it doesn’t make up for all of their bullying all these years, but hopefully it helps that something was finally done about it.”

As nice as all of that sounded, Sokka knew better than to believe sugar-coated words. He replied, “Yeah, it’s great. Thanks,” with a forced, tight-lipped smile before he got up from the bleachers and started walking off the field. Katara, Aang, and Toph caught on pretty quickly and followed him without saying anything. Though, if he knew his sister, she was probably giving Zuko a death glare as she walked past.

Aang was beside him as soon as they were off the field. “Are you okay?” he asked with more sincerity than Sokka had ever heard.

Sokka dragged his hands down his face. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just… they're just all words until things actually change." He shrugged his shoulders. "I can't take that guy at his word, no matter how nice it sounds, because anyone can say that they'd have helped sooner or that the problem is solved, but I can't know that, ya know? There's no proof of that yet."

He hears a soft, "Yeah," from Toph behind him.

The next thing he felt was Katara's hand was on his shoulder. "Will you be okay?"

When Sokka looked at her, he saw the concern etched into her features. He couldn't let her worry about him. "I'll be fine. I've got thick skin." He chewed his bottom lip for a moment. "At least something's been done. Now, I just have to wait and see if it has any effect," he said with a little smile that he hoped instilled confidence that he was, indeed, fine.

By then, they'd reached the underclassman dorm. "Alright," Katara said, pulling him in for a quick hug. "I love you."

"Love you too, Kat," and with that, he departed from the group to head to his own dorm. The first thing he did was wrap one of his ice packs in a thin towel and hold it to his bruise. It didn’t hurt quite as bad as this morning, but it didn’t look much better. He decided there’d be no point in trying to do homework with one hand and one eye, so he turned on the anime he’d been working his way through and let his mind wander as he mindlessly watched.

Obviously, it wandered back to Zuko. He honestly didn’t seem like a bad guy. He was certainly the nicest jock Sokka had even interacted with, but that was a pretty low bar. And he was _so_ hot. His gold eyes, his obviously toned muscles, his long black hair -- they made him physically attractive, but his kindness made him emotionally attractive. No one had even looked twice at Sokka, let alone intervene for his sake. It was more than Sokka thought he’d ever deserve.

 _Stop it,_ he told himself. That’s crush talk, and (a)he’s too old for ‘crushes’ and (b)Zuko is probably straight and, even if he wasn’t, _way_ out of Sokka’s league. He decided mind wandering was a bad idea and resolved to not think about Zuko for the rest of the night.

Okay, he might have thought about him a little more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: discussion of being outed, *physical assault*, non-graphic description of injuries
> 
> *More detailed content warning at the bottom*
> 
> I really hate to do this, but I have changed the rating to mature because the violence goes past minor (and I have adjusted the tags accordingly). I tried to keep everything as non-graphic as possible. This chapter gets a little more intense than the last one, but I kept my promise to give it a happy ending.
> 
> With love,
> 
> Lucky Cat
> 
> (Also, a quick definition. CAD is **C** omputer **A** ided **D** esign which is essentially 3D modeling and is something that most mechanical engineering students have to study at some point.)

Sokka took off his glasses to rub his eyes after staring at his computer for two hours straight. His CAD homework had proven to be vastly more complex than he’d anticipated, but he’d finally finished. He let his eyes rest as he listened to the sounds of quiet conversations around him. He’d been a little wary about going to the library to get work done after The Confrontation, but the light background noise of the space made it much easier to focus than in the silence of his room. It had been about a week and a half since then and the now greenish-purple mark on his face didn’t hurt anymore. There was still an uneasiness that accompanied the library, but it felt stupid to let his fear stop him from working there.

He put his glasses back on and his heart sank when he spotted the members of the soccer team coming through the door. Zuko wasn’t with them. Since he’d already completed his assignment, he decided to just head back to his room and avoid interacting with them. Before he could finish packing up his stuff, Jet walked up to his table.

“Hey, Sokka.”

“Hey, Jet,” Sokka replied, dubious of how suspicious this interaction already seemed. “What’s up?”

“There’s this party the soccer team is hosting tomorrow night on Frat Lane and Zuko wanted us to invite you.”

Sokka eyed Jet for a second. “If Zuko wanted to invite me, why didn’t he do it himself?”

“He didn’t have time to look for you so he told the team that anyone who found you could go ahead and let you know.” Jet was smiling way too wide for Sokka to be comfortable. “Ya know, sort of an olive branch.”

“Ok,” he said, shoving his last notebook in his backpack. “I’ll see if I can make it.”

“Great. See you there,” and just as quickly as Jet had walked up, he was gone again.

Sokka slung his bag onto his shoulder and went back to his room, which is where he stayed until Saturday afternoon. He’d been debating with himself all day whether or not he should go to the party. First of all, he didn’t think he’d be much of a party person so he’d never gone to one. Second, he was weirded out by the way Jet invited him; it was like something was off, but he didn’t know what. But, third, he kind of wanted to see Zuko again.

Fuck. He caught feelings.

 _Nope, not doing it,_ he told himself. Without taking his… _feelings_ into account, he decided to go ahead and get his obligatory one college party out of the way. Who knows when he’d get invited to another?

He considered inviting Katara and her friends for a minute so he'd at least have some people who could stick with, but he thought better of it. It'd probably only end in an argument about why he'd go in the first place. He'd take having no one to talk to at the party over a lecture. It wasn't like he'd be staying very long anyway; half an hour would be long enough to have a drink and be seen by a few people.

Sokka began his walk over to the frat house the party was at a little before ten. This way, he’d hopefully get lost in the crowd and escape without being noticed too much. The night air was a little cooler than he’d expected, the wind cutting through the relatively thin fabric of his flannel. Not standing out was the name of the game so he’d worn jeans and a dark blue shirt with a blue and white flannel. Sadly, it had the opposite effect from not standing out.

Jet had failed to mention that the theme was basically ‘who had the biggest hard-on for school spirit’ and everyone was wearing red and gold, the school’s colors.

 _Of fucking course,_ he groaned to himself as he walked through the front door. All eyes were on him as he made his way through the ground floor, overhearing the giggles and whispers about him that people were doing a terrible job at concealing. Absolutely mortified, Sokka decided to just get a drink, stand in a corner for ten minutes, and then leave. His plan was foiled when he was spotted by Zuko.

“Hey man,” Zuko said with a hand on Sokka’s shoulder. Obviously, the school’s colors looked like they were picked for Zuko. His shimmering gold jacket was open to reveal a dark red V-neck and Sokka couldn’t stop the tiny gay heart attack he had at the sight of the other’s collarbone.

“Hey,” Sokka very eloquently replied.

Zuko leaned in, giving Sokka some more heart palpitations, to be heard over the booming music. “You look great.”

Sokka couldn’t keep in his laugh. “If by ‘great’ you mean ‘like the only asshole without school spirit’ I can’t argue with you.”

“Nope,” Zuko said with a grin. “There’s no one better to stand out than you.”

Okay, Zuko had obviously already had a bit to drink. There’s no way a straight soccer jock would openly flirt with a known gay guy. It just didn’t happen. Sokka replied with a, “Sure,” and poured himself some of whatever battery acid flavored concoction had been mixed up. He felt Zuko grab his elbow.

“Wanna head out back? Easier to talk there,” he yelled over the music again.

 _Better than being surrounded by judging eyes._ “Lead the way,” Sokka shouted back.

The way his heart leapt to his throat at Zuko taking his hand to drag him to the backyard put his earlier cardiac arrests to shame. Once they were finally out of the house, Zuko dropped his hand and walked over to a bench along the side of the house, tucked away in the shadows, and Sokka followed, noticing how cold his hand felt without Zuko’s hold on it. Sokka sat and kept his gaze directed forward, watching all of the other people who gathered out here to escape the noise.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry again,” Zuko said after a minute.

Sokka turned to face him and was surprised by the pained look on his face. “Hey, it’s fine. I’m fine. That kind of thing is nothing new to me.”

“It’s just--” Zuko seemed like he was struggling to find the right words. “How did it go on for so long.”

Sokka looked back out to the yard and thought about it for a minute. “I don’t really know,” he said with a shrug. “No one who _could_ do something ever really took it seriously. To them, it was just some harmless teasing and I needed to toughen up.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Sokka could see Zuko shaking his head. “That’s not right.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t.” Sokka turned to face the other again. “But you did the right thing. Thank you for that.”

Zuko gave him a forced little smile before Sokka looked away again. After a long moment of silence, Zuko asked, “Why did they start in the first place?” Sokka tensed at the question and Zuko quickly backpedalled. “You don’t have to answer that.”

“No, it’s fine.” Sokka took a deep breath and stared down at his hands. “Since this is a small town, a lot of us have been together since elementary school. It was easier to all be friends when we were younger, but…”

Sokka’s words got stuck in his throat. He’d never told anyone else the whole story before, and he was scared. But then, he felt Zuko’s hand on his shoulder. _Zuko seems to care,_ Sokka reminded himself. “I’ve always known I was gay. I also knew what people thought about being gay around here so I didn't say anything. I don’t know if I would’ve ever said anything if it hadn’t been for this guy who transferred to our high school my freshman year." Sokka couldn't help the little smile that found its way into his face at the memory. "His name was Lee. He was a sophomore and we were in the same geometry class. He was really bad at math so our teacher had me tutor him. We’d meet before school so it wouldn’t interfere with his soccer practices in the afternoon. We ended up spending a lot of time together. Even when he didn’t need help with anything, he’d still come find me before school just to hang out and laugh at stupid things with me. I liked him a lot, but I wasn’t planning on doing anything.

“One day, he held my hand and asked me if that was okay. When I said it was, he blurted out that he liked me so I told him that I liked him too. I was so shocked that someone like him would like someone like me that--”

Zuko interrupted, “What do you mean by that?”

A little taken aback, Sokka replied, “I mean, I never thought an cool athlete would ever go for a math geek like me.”

Zuko didn’t seem to like that answer, but he stayed quiet and let Sokka continue recounting his story.

“Anyway, I should have known it was too perfect. He was… just about to kiss me, but then Jet and Hahn came into the classroom we were in. Lee immediately jumped back and told them that I had promised to blow him if he gave me a kiss to cover his ass so no one would think he was gay.” Sokka didn’t notice he had started crying until he felt a tear hit his cheek, quickly wiping it away. “That’s when the rumors and bullying started. No one believed me when I said that wasn’t true, and it just got worse when Lee transferred out.” He scoffed. “Everyone just said it was my gay shame that forced him to leave.

“It was… pretty bad, but my sister and my dad and my grandma all supported me from the time I was forced out of the closet and that made it easier. I had a few good friends who stuck by me at school, watching my back for me. Sadly, they left the state for college. I wanted to leave too, but I got a full ride here and I couldn’t pass that up and make my dad pay for me to go somewhere else.” He brought a hand up to rub the shaved back of his head under his tied up hair. “So yeah, that’s how all of that started.”

Sokka finally turned to look at Zuko again. He looked absolutely crushed. “So… you two never even kissed?”

It wasn’t a question Sokka had been expecting, shocking a small laugh out of him. “No, we didn’t. I’ve actually never even kissed anyone. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?”

Zuko opened his mouth to reply, but was stopped when someone shouted his name from the back door. He turned and shouted, “Coming!” in the direction of the person who called him. “Are you staying for a while?” he asked, turning back to look Sokka in the eye.

“No, I think I’m going to just go back to my dorm.” He broke eye contact for a second before looking back into Zuko’s golden hazel eyes. “It was nice talking to you.”

That made Zuko smile the most proud smile Sokka had ever seen. “Yeah. See you around I guess,” he said as he stood to go back inside.

“See you around,” Sokka replied with a smile on his face as well.

Now alone on the bench, Sokka stood and made his way to the side gate. He honestly hadn’t expected to have as good a time as he did. The weight that had been lifted off of him outweighed the embarrassment he felt when he’d arrived at the party. Zuko was so easy to talk to. Sokka didn’t bother fighting the fluttery feeling in his chest as he walked down the sidewalk in front of the house; it felt too nice.

He had made it two houses down when someone behind him called out his name. The fluttery feeling in his chest turned constricting when he saw Jet, Hahn, and half the soccer team coming down the sidewalk from the house.

“Left without saying hi to me? That’s pretty rude,” Hahn said with a smirk.

Sokka knew that this would only end badly for him. He wanted to run, but he was frozen in place. He couldn’t even say anything as all the guys formed a circle around him. He was trapped.

“Oh, are you scared? You should be, ‘cause ya wanna know something? All it took was a phone call and a check from my dad to get me back on the team.” Hahn grinned with a wild look in his eye. “We can do whatever we want and as long as we say you started it, there won’t be any consequences.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Sokka gritted out. “I’m not staying silent anymore.”

That just made Hahn laugh. “Who do you think people would believe, a star athlete or a--”

He didn’t get the last insulting word out because Sokka shoved him back against the circle and made a run for it in the gap that it created. He was running back in the direction of the frat house, hoping to find Zuko again, but he was stopped dead in his tracks when Hahn caught up to him and tackled him to the ground. Sokka tried to escape his grasp by kicking and jerking away, but when Hahn got him on his back, he was helpless to stop that barrage of punches he laid in. The circle from before had reformed around them. Sokka could barely hear the mix of jeers and cries for help from the gathering on-lookers from the party while he did his best to shield his face using his arms.

Sokka didn’t know how long he was pinned to the ground, but the minute Hahn was dragged off of him, he curled up to try to protect himself. When he felt a hand on him again, he flinched before he saw that it was Zuko.

“Get your hands off of me!” Sokka yelled at him. Zuko took a step back, shock painted across his face. Sokka unsteadily got to his feet, turning to face Zuko. “Is this why you invited me? So that your team could finish what they started?”

Zuko made to reply, but Sokka wasn’t going to listen to excuses. He simply held his hand up and walked away. The on-lookers that had gathered made a path for him and he kept his eyes glued to the ground, walking as fast as he could back down the street. He heard a commotion behind him, but he wouldn’t turn around for anything at this point.

Once he made it to the edge of campus, he found a building that was still unlocked at this time of night to clean himself up a little before having to walk all the way back to his dorm as a bloody mess. Inside the bathroom on the first floor, he took off his flannel and wet it in the sink. He looked at himself in the mirror through once again cracked lenses. His face didn’t look too bad after the blood from his nose had been cleared away; most of the punches had been aimed at his stomach. He lifted his shirt to see the giant areas of purple taking form. This time he couldn’t hold his tears in, so all alone in a bathroom at almost eleven at night, he cried.

He sank down against the wall, stifling his sobs for no real reason other than to not sound as broken as he felt, before he heard the door opening. Panicked, his eyes darted up to see Zuko coming through the doorway. He let out a sigh, regretting not just heading straight for his dorm. Sokka slowly got to his feet and faced Zuko, waiting for him to speak.

“Sokka, I-- I don’t know what to say.”

“Why are you here then?” Sokka was just tired; he didn’t have any fight left in him.

“I--” Zuko paused, trying to find words, and Sokka really didn’t need this. He grabbed his flannel off the edge of the sink and pushed past Zuko, only for him to grab his elbow at the last second. “Wait!”

Sokka turned to face him again, hoping his glare was enough to tell him that he better spit out whatever he had to say or let Sokka leave.

“I can explain. Yes, I knew Hahn had been let back on the team, but, no, I didn’t know what they had planned.” Sokka just scoffed. “You have to believe me. I wouldn’t have let it happen. Trust me.”

“Yeah, but it did!” Sokka was out of patience. “Why the hell should I trust you?!”

“Because I’m like you!” Sokka watched the second that Zuko realized what he just said, Zuko’s face losing all anger and his eyes dropping to the floor. “I’m gay,” he said softly. “And I-- I really like you, Sokka. You should trust me because I would do _anything_ to protect you.”

Then, it clicked. “I heard something as I was walking away,” Sokka said weakly. “Was that you?”

Zuko winced and looked back up at Sokka. “I couldn’t stand by after he’d hurt you again.”

Sokka looked down to see purple marks scattered across Zuko’s knuckles, skin broken in a few places. He could only shake his head. "Why would you do that for me?"

Zuko let out a breathy laugh. "I just said it, didn't I?" He took Sokka's hand in one of his bruised ones. "I like you, Sokka."

He wasn't so easily convinced. "But why?"

Zuko gave him a look of disbelief. "You really don't know? I haven't known you for very long, but I can already tell how smart and kind and amazing you are. I want to get to know you better so I can find all of the other things that make you so amazing and I'll never stop reminding you of them. Does that… sound like something you'd like to do?"

Sokka's brain was playing catch-up. This was all quite a lot to process, going from anger to confusion to… this fluttery feeling in his chest again. Amidst all of that, he could only find the energy to say one word.

"Yes."

Zuko's face lit up, and it was blinding to Sokka. "I promise that Hahn will never walk on the field again."

Sokka shook his head, his hand still in Zuko's. "That's not enough.” He took a deep breath. “I'm going to press charges this time. I don't want to be afraid anymore."

"I am so proud of you," Zuko said, moving his free hand up to cup the side of Sokka's face.

Sokka looked directly into Zuko's eyes, bracing himself for the question he had to ask. "What are you going to tell your team and… other people?" Zuko seemed confused, so Sokka clarified. "About being gay."

Zuko’s eyes went wide. "Oh. I hadn't really… thought about that."

"Um… Okay. I probably should have asked you that before I said yes because I really don't want to go back in the closet or have to keep whatever our relationship turns into a secret. I just-- I really like you too and I want to spend more time with you and all of that, but--"

"Hey, it's okay," Zuko said, interrupting his rambling. "I-- I'm going to tell them. I've been scared for a long time, but you've shown me I don't have to be anymore. If you can stand up to Hahn after all this time, I can tell people I'm gay."

Sokka leaned into Zuko’s hand on his face. “Now I get to say I’m proud of you.”

Zuko looked into Sokka’s eyes like he was the most precious thing in the world. It was almost too much for Sokka to handle, but, at the same time, he was drawn to Zuko like he was magnetic.

“I wanted to ask this earlier when we were on the bench, but I got scared.” Zuko let go of Sokka’s hand so he could hold both sides of Sokka’s face. “Can I be your first kiss?”

“Yeah,” Sokka whispered, afraid that speaking too loudly would shatter the moment.

His eyes drifted shut and the next thing he felt was Zuko’s lips on his. The feeling was electric and soft and special and it all belonged to Sokka. The kiss itself only lasted for a few seconds, but it meant everything to him.

All Sokka could do was smile. He never thought that he deserved good things, but standing in a random bathroom on campus, covered in bruises, across from Zuko, he started warming up to the idea that maybe he does.

**\-----**

**Epilogue**

_One month later_

Sokka walked out of the dean’s office with his head held high. He turned to look at his dad, who had to be smiling just as wide, if not wider, than Sokka was.

“I’m so proud of you,” his dad told him, clapping a hand down on his shoulder.

Sokka looked back to see the miserable look on Hahn’s face and the furious look on his father’s. “Thanks, Dad,” he said when he turned back to face him. “I can’t believe it’s finally over.”

“Believe it,” he heard from behind him.

Sokka whipped around to find Zuko standing there. He ran over to him and practically jumped into his arms. He could hear his dad laughing, but he couldn’t care less. It felt good to see Hahn expelled, but it felt even better to see his boyfriend waiting for him.

“Great job, baby,” Zuko whispered into his hair.

He pulled away a little to look at Zuko. “Ya know, I think there’s a better way you can show you’re proud of me.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” he asked with a smirk.

Sokka rolled his eyes and put a hand on the back of Zuko’s neck. “Just kiss me already, you dumb jock!”

That made Zuko smile. “With pleasure.”

**\-----**

_The End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Detailed CW for physical assault: Sokka gets tackled to the ground and beat up. His assailant is pulled off of him before he gets any head trauma, loses consciousness, etc.
> 
> A small PSA: If you ever are assaulted, call the police immediately. Sokka didn’t here because he hadn’t made that decision yet, but this is also fiction. The real world won’t necessarily work out the same way, so be careful out there loves!
> 
> This wasn’t beta read, so if you saw any mistakes, please let me know. I really hope you enjoyed reading this!

**Author's Note:**

> This wasn’t beta read, so if you saw any mistakes, please let me know. I’m going to try to have the second chapter up in one week (maybe a little sooner if I finish it early).


End file.
